Maintenance on a multiport valve

I have a hayward sp714 valve. I am going to be replacing the spider gasket, but before doing so I want some information on whether there is any maintenance that should be done on a multiport valve, such as greasing anything, etc. The spider gasket is in place, but the valve is very difficult to rotate. I'm not sure whether the spring assembly is not lifting the plate properly and will be trying to check this later. Is there some type of cleaning or greasing that should be done around the white plastic under the handle(I think the hayward parts catalog lists this as a non-metallic bearing). Is there anything that needs to be done around the spring assembly? If so any tips on properly dismantling the handle/spring/plate assembly?

Finch, in my experience (which is considerable) the spring and other parts of the valve don't go bad unless your pH has been wayyy low for a while. I'm not even sure that the spider gasket is bad - sand or fine grit can make the handle hard to turn, breaking it open and rinsing it out will usually correct the problem. Use silicon or teflon based lube and be generous when putting it back together.
Should you need any more assistance, just ask
ps, welcome to the forum, everybody here is rooting for you!!

It took a lot of doing and 4 hands to get the pin out of the handle but I got the thing apart and greased and it's like a brand new valve. I was going to replace the spider gasket because the pool level seems to be dropping, but I took the hose off the discharge line and there isn't any water coming out of it. Maybe it is a sometime problem. I hope it isn't something more serious because there are no obvious leaks. At any rate thanks for the response. That problem is solved.